USA Today examines whether a "notion of sin" has been lost.
Easter lilies, marshmallow peeps, and sin will be upon us this Sunday.
To be more precise, a "notion of sin" might be a common theme in the pews this Sunday, as USA Today describes in a piece today. "Without an idea of sin, Easter is meaningless," Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll tells Cathy Lynn Grossman.
Grossman writes about the Pope's recent "Seven Deadlies" (which David Neff writes about just below). A new survey by Ellison Research showed that 87 percent of U.S. adults believe that sin exists, defined as "something that is almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective."
She contrasts pastors like Texas pastor Joel Osteen, who doesn't mention sin in his TV sermons or Your Best Life Now, with New York pastor Tim Keller, who says he provides an explanation for what sin actually is.
"They do get the idea of branding, of taking a word or term and filling it with your own content, so I have to rebrand the word 'sin,' " Keller tells Grossman. "Around here it means self-centeredness, the acorn from which it all grows. Individually, that means 'I live for myself, for my own glory and happiness, and I'll work for your happiness if it helps me.' Communally, self-centeredness is destroying peace and justice in the world, tearing the net of interwovenness, the fabric of humanity."
While non-religious fluff novalties like peeps remain quite popular, Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville wonders whether pastors will make a sin connection this Sunday.
"All the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny are even more extraneous to the purpose of Easter than Santa is to Christmas," Mohler says. "At least Santa Claus was based on a saint. I wonder whether even some Christian churches are making the connection between Christ's death and resurrection and victory over sin — the linchpin doctrine of Christianity."
Posted by Sarah Pulliam on March 20, 2008 2:36PM
Comments
Interesting way to look at Easter. Probably a lot better than how Obama's church looked at it last year on Palm Sunday. Last year on it, they had the preacher talking about how everyone in the church had been colonialized Donkeys, and Jesus wanted to untie you (scriptural basis being the story about how the disciples untied the donkey). The pastor (not Wright) then proceeded to talk about how God is more powerful than any Bush (pun intended).
Posted by: Glenn at March 20, 2008
The problem with defining sin as selfishness is that it has no reference to God.
The problem with Adam and Eve was that they thought they knew better than God: they REBELLED.
Rebellion or self-God is more accurate definition, I think.
James (UK)
Posted by: James at March 20, 2008
I find it interesting how we simply aren't allowed to enjoy holidays anymore for fear of the traditions behind them being yet another alleged form of "idolatry."
May they enjoy their lectures on sin. I'll be enjoying Reese's peanut butter eggs.
A lovely blog, Sarah.
Posted by: Kirk at March 20, 2008
Dear Ms Pulliam,
Although I agree with the basis of this article, the notion that we have lost the meaning of sin in our society, you are wrong about Joel Osteen.
My question to you is; Have you ever watched Osteen's broadcast? If so, then you would know that he calls peeople (millions of viewers) to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ at the close of EACH program.
If you have seen his broadcast, are you intentionally misleading your readers here?
I think you should apologize to your readers or at least offer a correction.
Sincerely,
T. Manning
Posted by: Ted Manning at March 21, 2008
I agree with James (UK). Pastor Tim Keller's definition of sin as "self-centeredness" is a social/collective ethic. "Self-centeredness" as a definition of sin can be used to justify communism.
God must be the basis for the definition.
Osteen, also may call people to repent of their sins, but what does he define sin as? Is it Biblical?
Posted by: Paul at March 24, 2008
Good remark Sarah,
Go for it and enjoy your Peanut Butter Eggs.
Posted by: LizBeth at March 24, 2008
Good thought there Sarah,
Enjoy your Peanut Butter Eggs!!!!
Posted by: LizBeth at March 24, 2008
Yes, Joel does remember sin but it is after the sermon is over, and he makes an invitation to Christian Discipleship. My wife really adores his preaching.
Posted by: Bill Dennis at March 24, 2008
Well, I HAVE seen Joel Osteen's program (many times), as well as read his book "Your Best Life Now". I returned the book to Borders because it read more like "Dianetics" than a Bible-based Christian book. Giving an invitation at the end of his program where he tells people to repent is NOT the same as talking about sin in a sermon. So many pastors these days want to be liked, they want to be popular, and they don't want to step on any one's toes. They want to have "feel-good" churches that preach "feel-good" sermons. What happened to the words of Jesus?
"Blessed are those who are not ashamed of me...". People, if we don't realize that we're sinners, how are we going to recognize our need for a Savior?!
Posted by: Suzannah Schulthies at March 24, 2008
Osteen said on the Larry King show, that he purposefully never mentions sin in his sermons because he figured that the people had heard enough bad news during the week that they didn't need the pastor to pile on more !
I believe that we have minimized sin in Western culture by liberalizing the "definition". As Barbara Walters on The View said why did the Governor of NY have to resign; all men do those kind of things. Excuse me?
Posted by: pete at March 25, 2008
One common outworking of sin in our lives is believing the worst about other believers (indeed, about other humans) without checking the facts first. I wonder if there are any examples of this particular sin in these comments?
The other way in which we confuse the issue is by focusing on sins rather than sin. So, we end up with a hierarchy of sins where other people's sins seem to be worse than our own. Some years ago, Leadership magazine - tongue-in-cheek - suggested something like this as a PhD thesis waiting to be written: A statistical comparison of pulpit denunciations of sexual sins and business-related sins...
Posted by: Benny at March 25, 2008
The bible speaks spcifically about sin. Gives various examples of what sin is. If we don't teach the Bible how will the people know they are sinning. The OT prophets made it very clear what the people were doing wrong. Jesus made it very clear what the people were doing wrong and both named sin. Our mistake I agree is grading sin. God hates all sin equally. Yet some sins do have a greater impact on society as a whole. God hates sin but loves the sinner John 3:16 says it all..
Posted by: W. Buck at March 26, 2008
James (UK) and Paul:
Don't allow the brevity of Keller's description of sin to be misleading. The fuller context would show that what he's saying is the same as you are. Self-centeredness/pride is the root of all sins, because it says that we can live independently of God and can run the world better than he ever could. That's the sin of Adam & Eve. "You shall be as gods" they were told.
We all want to be gods, and so we live self-centered lives that deny God his rightful place. A consequence of this attitude is how we mistreat those around us, but that isn't the core of Keller's definition of sin.
Posted by: C Sicks at March 27, 2008
My sin put Christ on that cross---It's an incredibly humbling thought! If God is the definer of sin, and Christ died for our sins, then we do need to understand what sin is and what it cost our precious Lord! John 3:17 is the key! What a gracious and wonderful God we have!
Posted by: Ellen at March 29, 2008
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